Attacking the BJP and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said they were indulging in divisive politics by “sowing seeds of poison” and instigating violence.
“This is an area which was the ‘karmabhoomi’ of Sufi saints and a symbol of
composite culture of the country. I firmly believe that you will not allow those who sow the seeds of poison, who don't believe in secular credentials and who play the politics of instigating violence to succeed,” the UPA chairperson said at a public rally in northern Karnataka.

The BJP and other opposition parties, she alleged, have only one motive and that is to hanker after the chair. “It is necessary for the people to be cautious about the opposition parties' plans to gain power by any means.”

The BJP’s spokesperson, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, hit back at Gandhi, saying the Congress would meet the same fate in 2014 as it did after her ‘maut ka saudagar’ remark against Modi in 2007.

“We are concerned about the removal of poverty and bringing self-respect to the poor. We are concerned about fostering brotherhood and maintaining peace in society. Therefore, we are in a position to speed up development,” Gandhi said during her address.

The Congress president said it was because of the BJP that programmes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Scheme did not work in Karnataka.